Then and Now
by monochromatic days
Summary: "I just wanted to wish you Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." Happy Birthday Takano!


**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!**

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><p>On the eve of Christmas last year, Takano had unceremoniously woken Onodera bright and early up in the morning and dragged him halfway across town.<p>

It may sound totally ridiculous at first, but hearing Takano say he wanted to see the first snowfall of the year together with Onodera, it just melted away all the insecurities (and snow on his head, cause he WAS blushing a little too much) at that moment.

So after finally coming to terms with his feelings the following spring, but not really conveying it to the other party, Onodera had decided to celebrate Takano's birthday properly this time around.

Where he'll start, he'll never know.

But for now, he only had what he had planned eleven years ago to work with.

An orange glow emanating from the birthday candles, and everything will be sparkli-

_Wait. What?_

**NO FREAKING WAY!**

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><p>Luckily, or not so luckily, the exact same thing happened this year.<p>

Onodera Ritsu was once again dragged out of his house bright and early in the morning on Christmas Eve, courtesy of a certain Editor-in-Chief.

"T-Takano-san! Why are you doing this again? Haven't I already promised you I'll spend today with you? Isn't this unnecessary?" Onodera huffed. _'Jeeze. I'm not that heartless to break a promise on Christmas eve, especially when its Takano-san's birthday too.'_

"Really now? From all the sounds of you pacing around next door the entire night, I assumed you were extremely excited to spend the day with me," Takano smirked. True enough, the sounds coming out from the younger editor's house awfully resembled pacing. Whether it was excited or nervous or contemplative, Takano would never know. But of course, out of his own convenience, he would automatically choose to think it was Onodera being excited. Well, it couldn't hurt to dream a little on his birthday, right?

Then again, he does this every time, not even on his birthdays. So, what the heck.

"Excited? Don't get me wrong! I was just thinking about what to do with you toda-" _'Oh shit!'_

"Ah. So you were fussing on how to make this a memorable day for me huh?"

"N-No! I m-mean. U-Uh…"

"It's alright. I've already gotten everything planned out."

"Eh? But…"

"Don't worry about it. Its my birthday after all, so shouldn't I get to pick what I want to do?"

"That's what I'm worried about…" the younger murmured.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

"Relax, I won't do anything."

"I already said its nothing! Can we get going?"

Seeing how his subordinate was desperately trying to hide his embarrassment, Takano shrug and led the way towards the car park in their apartment complex.

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><p>For some reason, Takano had brought them to the newly opened amusement park which wasn't too far from their apartment complex. It was no surprise that this would be a first for Takano since hee had been somewhat of a loner when he was younger. Even while dating girls, Takano had never even once thought about bringing them to one.<p>

So this was pretty much a good opportunity to relive some part of his childhood.

However, with it being Christmas eve, there were many people already at the attractions, eagerly waiting in line for their turn. But since they had gotten the entire day, waiting wasn't really a problem.

'At least during the wait, we can spend a little more time together.'

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><p>Haunted houses, bumper cars, carousel, roller coasters, 3D and 4D movies, they had all gone for. All except…<p>

"Ferris wheel?"

"Yeah! They said the Christmas lights and decorations are the best this year! I heard you can even see the giant Christmas tree set up clearly from it!"

Even though this was supposed to be Takano's birthday celebration, the younger male seemed more excited then the birthday boy himself. But then again, the festivities of the Christmas season got to anyone really easily and Onodera, apparently, was no exception.

So when Onodera was running around like an excited little boy during his first time in an amusement park, Takano was greatly amused. Who would have thought that the jaded editor would have another cute side to him?

"Hurry up, Takano-san! There are lesser people at the Ferris wheel now!" Onodera huffed, clearly annoyed at how slow Takano was. He wanted to get up there and see the lights!

"Coming, coming. You're forgetting that I'm a year older today you know."

"Humph. Doesn't look like you grew any older. You're still the same as always!"

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"No! You're supposed to get more mature each year, you know!"

"Sure, sure. Who's the one running around the amusement park like a kid given candy, huh?"

"…"

Takano laughed, he won this one over Onodera, that's for sure.

But in the midst of their bickering, they had already reached their destination and were already waiting in line for their turn up the Ferris wheel. It wasn't long before it was time for them to get into their gondola. When Onodera saw the sign that said "Each gondola has a capacity of only 2 persons and there has to 2 people riding in each gondola at any one time or none at all." He started panicking.

'_Me and Takano? In the same gondola?'_

Clearly, Takano had felt the tension rising within Onodera and teased, "Didn't you want to see the lights? Plus all the others waiting in line are couples so I doubt you'll even find someone else to go up with you."

"But-"

"But nothing, don't be silly and just get on!" Takano grabbed his wrist and tugged him into the gondola. Before the olive-eyed male could do anything else, the door was already close and the gondola began its slow ascend.

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><p>The passenger car carrying both Takano and Onodera was shrouded in silence. Obvious tension emanating from the younger since he still wasn't used to being in such close proximity with the older and the size of the gondola wasn't making anything better.<p>

So the brown-haired male decided to look outside at the scenic lights, which were his intentions in the first place, and tried to ignore the stares from his boss while trying to enjoy himself. Said boss was more interested in his old flame rather then the festive decorations after one glance.

"Ano… Takano-san? Is there something on my face?"

"No."

"Then why are you staring…?"

"It isn't very often when I can see you so happy. It makes me happy."

"Ah…"

"…"

The young editor looked down before turning and facing Takano. "A-ano… Takano-san. I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" the latter was clearly intrigued. _'A love confession, maybe?' _He inwardly joked, but nonetheless, hoping for it.

"I've wanted to say this for a while now."

"Yeah?"

"Ano… I… I… Lo-" Just then, the gondola jerked to a halt and the lights went out. "I WANT TO WISH YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

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><p>Takano folded his arms and then stared straight at Onodera in the darkness, whereas the latter was trying to avoid eye contact, even though they can't really see each other yet because their eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness, and stared out of the window intently.<p>

Both were clearly more interested what just happened between them rather then the sudden power outage in the surrounding areas. Almost all of the lights in the vicinity were completely out and the Ferris wheel was right in the centre of the blackout.

Great. Just great.

"You're never gona say it, are you?"

'_He knew I backed out in the last minute?' _"Ahahaha! Say what?"

Sighing, Takano continued, "What are you feeling so afraid for? Haven't I already proved to you that I'll never let you go again? I'll never let you run away anymore. I've told you time and again how much I really do love you, then and also, now. So why can't you accept this? What is that barrier that's preventing you from saying that you really love me?" Finishing, he buried his face in his hands, trying to calm himself down after that random outburst. _'Shit. Whenever I'm around him, I can't keep my cool about this.'_

Onodera stayed quiet. His mind was slowly processing what the ember-eyed male sitting across him had said. _'Takano-san had really been insecure about our relationship because of my indecisiveness? I never knew… But he's reached his limit now right? If I don't say it now… Yokozawa-san will take him back. NO!'_ He shocked himself at how he was so anxious when he thought about that even happening. Mentally slapping himself, he continued his internal debate _'I've already made up my mind to tell him this today. I already did! So why is this so difficult? It was so much easier in the past…'_

"T-Takano-san?"

"…"

"I r-really do-o… D-do…" At this, Takano looked up, looking expectant. "IREALLYDOLOVEYOU," rushing out the entire sentence left Onodera completely breathless. He was already so nervous at trying to confess but the ever-so piercing stare by his boss always made him much more self-conscious then usual. Quickly looking away, he felt his face heating up, and shut his eyes tight, not wanting to look at the older male at all.

"Ritsu…" Takano began. "Ritsu, look at me."

Still continuing to avoid eye contact, Takano had no choice but to reach over, and grab the younger male's chin and tilt it towards him to plant a passionate kiss on his lips.

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><p>By some miracle, the amusement park had a back up power supply and it lasted long enough to get all of the visitors safely out of all the attractions before running out, leaving the entire area shrouded in darkness once again.<p>

So the two had a silent agreement that it would be best that they headed home instead since the blackout had already crossed out many possible places they could stop by after the trip to the amusement park.

Neither of them had spoken a word once after the kiss on the Ferris wheel.

The silence, to say the least, was stifling, on the car.

Then again, they usually didn't converse much when Takano was driving and Onodera was riding shotgun.

Even though Takano had waited for that moment for the longest time, he'd never expected to be so shocked. He had to even pinch himself a few times to make sure that it wasn't a dream and that he wouldn't suddenly wake up and ruin the moment. _'It really happened.'_

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><p>'<em>It really happened.'<em> Ritsu was still shocked that he came right out and confessed.

'_I really did just confess to him… So what do we do now?'_

'_Oh right. I need to give him his present… Maybe its ok if he comes by my house for a while?'_

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><p>Both editors were completely breathless when they got to their doorsteps.<p>

Reason?

Their apartment complex was also affected by the sudden blackout and hence, they had to climb the stairs from the basement car park all the way till the 12th storey.

Before entering his apartment, Ritsu asked, still a little jittery, "T-Takano-san? Would you mind coming by my house in about 10 minutes?"

Ok. This, Takano didn't expect. So he just nodded in agreement and… Let's just say that that was the longest 10 minutes in his entire life.

'Ah, maybe I should bring him his Christmas present too…'

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><p>In Ritsu's apartment, said male was fumbling around the house, trying not to trip over anything. Slightly thanking his lucky stars for having cleared up the place for a bit since, well, he already had this special moment planned out before he left the house today.<p>

Basically, it was the only thing he had managed to plan for the entire day.

When the doorbell sounded, Ritsu slowly made his way towards it. Trying to tell himself that he had already came this far, there was completely no way he was going to give up. In fact, he couldn't, because he had already fallen far too deep into this to even do anything about it but just to go with the flow.

Greeting his guest, Ritsu slowly guided Takano into the living room.

In the middle of the room, there was a light source.

But it wasn't just any light source.

There was an orange glow coming from candles atop a birthday cake.

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><p>"H-Happy Birthday, Takano-san. I know we didn't get to have a cake last year so this year I just thoug-"<p>

The brown-haired male was effectively cut off by yet another kiss from his… lover?

"Thank you, Ritsu." After separating from their kiss, the dark-haired male pulled the younger into a hug. "Thank you."

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><p>After the candles were blown out by the birthday boy, the room was once again encased in darkness. Onodera then made a move to light up the candles that were already set up beside them, supported by the candle holder, which you'll usually see used in candlelight dinners, but this was close enough.<p>

"Why did you even have this in the first place?" Takano gestured to the candle holder.

"Ah, well. My mum gave it to me in case I happened to invite An-chan over for dinner and all…" Seeing Takano's face fall slightly at the mention of the fiancé, Onodera quickly added, "But I've never invited her in here even once, and I'll probably never do, lest she gets the wrong idea and all… Ahahaha! Here! Cut the cake!" The younger shoved the plastic knife towards the older so as to distract him from other unnecessary thoughts.

Upon closer inspection, the cake was in fact, a Christmas log cake with the words "Happy Birthday" written in icing text on a piece of chocolate propped up on more icing on the cake. So after all the Christmas decorations were taken off the cake, Takano was finally able to cut the cake.

During the entire time, it was silence yet again.

Both had so much to say to each other.

Yet both didn't know where to start.

So they just kept quite throughout.

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><p>The cake was quickly devoured since they hadn't really eaten much besides snacks from the carnival.<p>

Clearing the plates, Onodera carefully threaded into the kitchen to dump the dishes into the sink and then the empty box which held the cake not too long ago into the rubbish bin.

When he'd gotten back into the living room, Takano was already prepared and took out the Christmas present meant for Onodera.

"Eh?"

"Your Christmas present." He gestured to the small box lying on the table, right in front of Onodera.

"I know but wouldn't it be better tomorrow? I mean, it's your birthday today after all and you're giving a present…"

"Look at the clock now."

Confused, the brown-haired male took out his phone and checked the time. _12.06am* _it read. Which means right now, it's already Christmas day.

"Merry Christmas, Ritsu." And Takano leaned in for a peck on his lover's cheek.

"A-ah. Wait here!" leaving his present unopened on the table, the younger male rushed into the room, leaving a puzzled Takano waiting.

When the former came back, he was carrying a box, which was wrapped up nicely in festive decorations. "H-here. Your present."

Even with only a limited light source, Takano could still tell Onodera was blushing to the tips of his ears.

Or maybe that was just the cold, since the heater in the room wasn't really working, what with the power shortage.

"Well, I'll open yours and you'll open mine then."

"Ah… Hai."

Little time was wasted as Takano literally ripped the wrapping paper off the box. Peering inside, there seemed to be books. Picking each one up, he recognised them as those which have had the same titles that he'd found in their high school library. But there was a common thing that linked all the books together.

_They were all books that the two of them had discussed about during their high school days 11 years ago. _

Sure it wasn't all of them but all of the books in the box were.

"This…"

"Ah! I've always wanted to give you them but you know how we didn't spend a Christmas together before so I've kept them…"

"You've kept them? For all these years?"

"… Yes."

"…" Rendering completely speechless, Takano didn't really know how to respond to that. Gifts that were supposed to be given 11 years ago were still kept even after 11 years.

"If you don't like them, I can get you something else though, but not any time soon since all the shops are close."

"No, no. This is just perfect."

"Oh…"

"So? Have you opened my present yet?" after getting over the initial shock, now Takano was even more excited to see the younger male unwrap his present. Both of them hadn't known what the other was thinking, but in the end, they had both done the same thing. Giving each other the things that they'd planned 11 years ago.

After the olive-eyed male opened his present, to say he was completely shocked was an understatement.

"A ring box?"

"Open it up and see for yourself."

And it was true. Once the cover was lifted, there sat a plain silver band on a small white pillow, with a chain attached to it.

"Wha-?"

"I've also always wanted to give you this, but I hadn't really found one that was suitable for you then. And now, I did, so, Merry Christmas, Ritsu."

Completely stunned for a moment, Ritsu stuttered, "A-ah. M-merry Christmas, Takano-san…"

"So… I guess we've fulfilled our long-standing high school wish huh?"

"Y-Yeah…"

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><p>That night, the two huddled together, sharing their body warmth until the power was back on. But even then, they still wouldn't let go of each other.<p>

Never again.

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><p><em>The three things I wanted to wish you today:<em>

_Happy Birthday,_

_Merry Christmas,_

_Happy New Year._

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><p><strong>*It really WAS Japan time 12.06am on Christmas day when I wrote that LOL<strong>

**A/N: OMGGGGGGGG I'm a little late but, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAKANO! Ritsu love you lots! Anyways, I'm uber depressed about the last episode (because it's the **_LAST_** episode) which resulted in me mourning and all, HENCE THE DELAY IN THIS FIC. /shots/ -Ahem- Anyways. I hope you guys enjoyed it and do leave a review! The button's just below! It wouldn't hurt right? It's the festive season! The season of giving!**

**Ok I shall stop right now. But I'd like to wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :D**


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